First Impressions
by scribeofruse
Summary: First Grade is a tough place, especially when the other kids think you're purposely attaching caterpillars to your face.


Arthur looked up from his drawing, _finally_ done colouring the unicorn properly, to see that _boy_ staring across the table at him with wide blue eyes.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to stare at other people?" Arthur demanded, giving the other boy his best six-year-old death glare.

"Momma tells me that all the time," the other boy chirped cheerfully, giving Arthur a big, gap-toothed grin.

"So why are you doing it?"

" 'Cause I wanna know how you got the caterpillars to stick on your face like that!" the boy blurted out, still staring at Arthur, who sputtered in fury.

"They're not caterpillars!"

"Oh. Really? 'Cause they _look_ like caterpillars," the boy said, resting his chin in his hands.

"They're my eyebrows, you – you – _git_," Arthur fumed, thinking of the worst name he could possibly call someone.

"Aw… that sucks," the boy pouted. "I wanted to stick caterpillars on _my _face."

At recess, the boy continued to follow him around the playground, leaving Arthur no time to sit and play with his Faerie friends.

"Would you _stop_?" Arthur finally yelled at him, turning around with his hands on his hips and glaring at the boy furiously.

"Sorry," the boy apologised. "It's just, you seem all lonely an' stuff, and I wanted to know if you wanted to play with me instead of by yourself?"

"Then why didn't you _say_ that?" Arthur asked, trying to keep his surprise from showing.

_Someone wants to play with _me?

"Uh… 'cause you kept walking away, and Momma says that I'm not supposed to yell at people, 'cause it makes their ears hurt real bad," the boy said, scuffing a shoe against the pavement. "So, do you wanna play with me?" he asked, the wind coming up to ruffle his light blond hair.

Arthur cast a glance over the rest of the playground, eyes landing on the Big Toy where all the other kids were playing. "Why don't you go play with _them_?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "They're _boring, _and _stupid_, that's why," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Tony and Francis and Gilly only wanna play knights and dragons, except Gilly has to be the hero 'cause she's apparently the awesomest one, so they were gonna make me be the dragon. And dragons are almost never the hero, unless they're like, Mushu, or Toothless, or somethin'. And I ain't gonna play with no stinkin' _girls_, 'cause they have cooties and they're _gross_," he explained, screwing his face up in disgust.

"Well… okay then…" Arthur said slowly. "I guess you can play with me."

"Awesome!" the other boy shouted. "Uh… wait. What's your name again?"

"I'm Arthur."

"Oh, okay! I'm Alfred F. Jones, but you can call me Al. Can we play knights and dragons, too?"  
"Wizards and dragons is more fun," Arthur told him, "But sure."

"We can do both!"

"How? Somebody has to be the dragon."

"No, they don't. We can just _pretend_ there's a dragon! Or pretend that… that _tree_ is the dragon!" Al suggested, pointing to a large, far away oak tree in the grass with a big grin on his face.

Arthur grinned back at him. "All right, let's go."

"Wha – no, you can't ride a _unicorn_, Artie! They're girly!" Al accused, stomping his foot and waving his "sword" (which was really a stick) in the air.

"No they aren't! They're like horses, but with really sharp horns on their heads!" Arthur protested. "That's not girly at all!"

"Uh _huh_," Al said. "Then why're all the girls over there are playin' with those unicorn toy thingies?"

"Those aren't _real_ unicorns, you git," Arthur scowled. "Real unicorns are white, or maybe black–"

"Are they bad?" Al asked, eyes wide.

"Just 'cause they're black doesn't make them bad, git. Anyway, Peter rides a unicorn in Narnia, so they're obviously not girly."

"I guess you're right… but horses are still better, 'cause all the heroes ride them!" Al shouted, galloping away.

"No they don't!" Arthur yelled back, running after him. "Get back here! You can't attack the dragon _alone,_ you stupid git!"

"Sure I can! I'm the hero!"

"And who decided you could be the hero?"

"I did, of course! And you can be my backup!"

"But I don't want to be the backup!"

"Well, fine! You can be my partner. Just don't forget – _I'm the Hero."_

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

* * *

A/N: So, uh, this was actually supposed to be one of the 100 themes. So much for that... oTZ

I do plan on this being a part of a series, just so you guys know. Not that I really _need_ to start another project... but I'm doing it anyway. I like letting my inner child out to play.

Review, please!


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